The Seattle Seahawks' demolition of the New Orleans Saints
on Monday night felt more like 64-7 for the guys in Black
and Gold. Or 104-7.

There were no Who Dat chants from the scores of Saints fans who braved the cold, wet weather to attend the showdown between the NFC's two best teams at CenturyLink Field. It was readily apparent who dat was after the Seahawks' emphatic beat down before a nationally televised audience.

The Seahawks didn't just beat the Saints. They emasculated them.

This was total domination, the likes of which Sean Payton
and Drew Brees haven't experienced in more than half a decade.

It's been more than six years since the Saints were humbled
like this. The last and only time it's happened was 2007, when Peyton Manning
and the Indianapolis Colts strafed them 41-10. But that was Week 1, not Week
13. And that Saints outfit wasn't nearly as talented as this one.

You got the feeling midway through the second half that the Saints could have been given five downs, 12 players and the Seahawks' defensive playbook and they still wouldn't have been able to score.

"We'll look at the tape, but we had trouble rushing the
football, we had trouble protecting the passer, getting guys open," Payton
said. "We didn't do enough things in any one area. ...

"We got beat good tonight."

Normally you'd want to burn the tape after a game like this.
But the Saints can't afford to this time. They likely will have to see the
Seahawks again. The road to Super Bowl goes through the Pacific Northwest. And
if the Saints hope to make their second Super Bowl appearance, they're going
to have to come back here at some point.

The Saints have seven weeks to figure out what
went wrong and get it fixed. The NFC championship game will be played Jan. 19, and barring
an epic meltdown it will be played in Seattle.

"We know they are a team we are going to have to deal with in the future," Brees said. "We are going to have to find a way to play better against these guys when that time comes."

This indeed might have been one of those nights the
Saints would love to forget. But they can't. The Saints can't simply close their eyes, click their
cleats together and pretend it didn't happen.

"It's a setback, but we have to make the corrections," Payton
said.

And they have to make them fast. A date with the surging
Carolina Panthers awaits Sunday night. The goal now changes from catching 11-1 Seattle to not being caught by 9-3 Carolina.

For all intents and purposes, the No. 1 seed in the NFC is
history. The Seahawks have a two-game lead on the rest of the
conference with four games to play. The Saints now have to be happy with a second-place finish in the conference race.

The Saints have seven weeks to figure out a way to decipher
the Seahawks' defense and stymie their offense. Seven weeks to figure out how to run the ball effectively against a defense other than the one in Dallas and how to protect Brees more consistently when not in the comfy confines of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. They have to figure out how to play on the road with the same confidence and prolificacy as they do at home.

And here's a scary thought: Seattle
likely will be even better when and if they meet again. They executed this
slaughter with their best offensive weapon (Percy Harvin) and two of their top
three cornerbacks (Brandon Browner and Walter Thurmond) standing on the
sideline. What's more, the Saints had 11 days to prepare and were the
healthiest they've been in weeks and still got nearly run into Elliott Bay.

The Saints' 188 total yards were the fewest of the
Brees-Payton era. It was the fewest by any Saints team since the 2001 season finale against San Francisco, a span of 188 games. Brees' 147 yards were the second fewest of his Saints tenure. The
Saints' longest play of the night covered 20 yards. I'm guessing that's a new low for this offense, too.

"Nothing we did offensively was right, we really couldn't get anything going," Brees said.

The domination was so so complete even Seahawks
coach Pete Carroll seemed shocked by its thoroughness afterward.

"To hold that quarterback, that coach and that team to that kind of production, that's an incredible night for our guys," Carroll said. "They had to work to
get over 100 (total yards)."

The Seahawks' offense was just as dominant. Seattle scored on all four of its first-half series and averaged 8.5 yards a play in
building a commanding 27-7 halftime margin.

The Saints' defense should have requested a trade for
Seattle's famed 12th Man. They could have used him to stop Russell
Wilson and the Seahawks' offense. Certainly, nothing else worked.

Two plays summarized the Saints' night: The Seahawks scored their third
touchdown when tight end Kellen Davis had the ball careen out of his hands and right into the waiting arms of teammate Derrick Coleman in the right
corner of the end zone. It was the first score of his career. The Seahawks stopped the Saints on a fourth-down pass in the fourth quarter with only 10 defenders.